By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Machiavellian on 02 June 2022
Edit Thread
ConservagameR said:
Machiavellian said:

If you cannot handle the job then you are unqualified to do it period.  I have to say that is the biggest weakness to this defense you have of some people cannot handle being on camera.  Its the job now and so if you cannot handle it, you should not be doing it.

The thing is, the trust of the police is gone because the police did not properly handle the bad apples within their ranks.  Instead of dealing with them as they should, they attempted to protect them at all cost.  Once you lose trust, it takes a long time to gain it back.  Every professional trade has gone through this from doctors, nurses, lawyers you name it.  When trust is gone there needs to be measures to bring it back.  So yes, every cop needs to have a camera running at all times for any incident between them and a suspect.  We have seen on countless occasions of police abusing their power as well as corruptions within their ranks.  Its not an easy job and everyone isn't cut out to be a police officer nor should they be.

There's a lot of jobs filled by, to some degree, unqualified people, due to the shortage of qualified people. The reasons for a lack of qualified people are many, but it doesn't change the fact that it's either have enough cops, or have a worrisome lack of them. If the camera causes what would then seem to be unqualified cops to do their job poorly, what do you suggest? Defund the police instead?

If every company just fired their unqualified people, the US would have very different business and work culture, not to mention an economic meltdown due to lack of employee's period.

Cops having camera's is almost certainly the answer to the camera problem, since it seems the camera's aren't going away. The next step is for the media and the people to wait for the full story before jumping to conclusions. Plenty of times now after the uproar, have the police finally released their footage, proving the officer was in the right. As for when the footage proves the officer wrong, then all the more evidence to discipline them.

True there are jobs filled by unqualified people but they are not all equal.  An unqualified doctor can cost lives, an unqualified teacher can cost development of the students and a unqualified police officer well you get the message.  No, I rather have fewer cops that are qualified then many unqualified.  America is the only country where it takes pretty much nothing to become a police officer compared to the rest of the develop world but you expect them to do everything.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56834733

If a Camera cause unqualified police to do their job poorly then they are not fit for the job.  Its a demanding job and its not for everyone.  I would easily rather pay more in taxes for highly qualified police then a bunch of unqualified people just to fill up the ranks.  The thing is, most things people call police for does not need an armed person to show up but because they show up armed any situation can become a deadly situation.  So yeah, I actually do agree with upending how the police force is structured but that is for another topic another day.

As for media or the public jumping to conclusions, that is totally on the police.  Transparency is the key here and trust.  To gain that trust, they must be open from the beginning.  We did not get here not trusting the police overnight, we got here because on many occasions we have seen how the police close ranks when a officer does something wrong.  Its up to the police to show the public they can be trusted.  Police have a great responsibility to their communities and if they seek to be respected then they need to show that same respect.